Emanuela Stanescu
Community Hero 2005
Last year, at age 12, Emanuela was involved in a terrible car accident that left her paralyzed from the waist down and deprived her of the ability to talk. The tragedy also claimed the lives of both her parents and three sisters, and seriously injured her younger brother, David.
Despite the daunting challenges and her great loss, Emanuela, or “Ema,” courageously strives to grow stronger by the day, and possesses an astounding level of personal fortitude. At the hospital, she quickly took to learning how to communicate through sign language, and her body continues to show promises of improvement. She maintains her love of reading, drawing and playing the piano.
Her grandmother, Floare, says Ema is an incredibly brave girl, who doesn’t have the slightest idea of what it means to “quit.” Ema’s willingness to accept her condition, while still working hard to get better every day, is a constant source of inspiration for her brothers and her grandparents, all of whom share her great sorrow over the untimely loss of their loved ones.
